BEng/MEng Joint Computing and Mathematics

The Mathematics and Computer Science (JMC) courses are offered jointly by the Department of Computing and the Department of Mathematics.

The MEng courses are of four year duration and lead to the MEng Honours degree of Imperial College and the Associateship of the City and Guilds of London Institute (ACGI).

The BEng course is of three year duration and leads to the BEng Honours degree of Imperial College and the Associateship of the City and Guilds of London Institute (ACGI).

JMC tabs

JMC Courses

The Departments of Mathematics and Computing of Imperial College offer a three-year and a four-year joint degree course.

BEng Mathematics and Computer Science (3 year)

MEng Mathematics and Computer Science (4 year)

All courses lead to the Associate of the City and Guilds Institute (ACGI).

These programmes, offered jointly by the two departments, are designed as mathematical courses oriented towards computing science and are suited to mathematically able students with interests in both subjects. The programmes give a firm foundation in Mathematics, in particular Pure Mathematics, Numerical Analysis and Statistics, and cover all the essentials of Computer Science, with an emphasis on developing software and reasoning formally about it, as well as more theoretical topics. The teaching is divided approximately equally between the two Departments.

Students take set courses from each Department in each of the first two years, with some options available in the second year. In each of the third and fourth year students select a total of eight courses from either department to support their particular interests and areas of specialisation. Students are able to switch between JMC degree courses at any stage during the first year. Note that progress on the 4 year MEng degrees require that the student maintains a sufficient performance (2:1 level) throughout the first two years of the degree. As with other MEng degrees in Computing, students may be required to transfer to the 3 year BEng degree if they do not meet this level.

With the spread of computing procedures and mathematical ideas into many areas, there is high demand for professionals who are expert in both computing and mathematics. Graduates in these courses are also well qualified for careers that normally require graduates from one or other of the two disciplines.

JMC Courses

UCAS

Courses

Length

GG14

Mathematics and Computer Science (BEng)

3 years

GG41

Mathematics and Computer Science (MEng)

4 years

How to Apply

Applying

All applications for all our undergraduate Joint Maths Computing (JMC) degrees are made through UCAS in the first instance. Note that we cannot accept direct applications from applicants. The college provides a complete description of how to go about applying through UCAS. You are advised to get your application in as early as possible and well before the 15 January UCAS deadline.

BEng Mathematics and Computer Science (GG14)

MEng Mathematics and Computer Science (GG41)

ONLINE ADMISSIONS TEST

All candidates are required to take an online admissions test which will test their logical, reasoning and problem-solving skills. No prior preparation is required for the test. The test will include a practice session, and should take no more than 90 minutes.

The test must be taken on a computer with an internet connection.

Interviews

JMC is a specialised course combining modules from Computing and Mathematics degrees. We expect applicants to have a strong mathematical background. JMC candidates are offered an interview based on the strength of their UCAS applications. Applicants are not judged by academic ability alone but upon a wider profile to assess their potential for success in a mathematical engineering degree. Interviews also give you the opportunity to raise questions about the courses or College life in general.

We progress roughly one fifth of applications for JMC courses to the interview stage. Candidates passing their interview will usually be made an offer within 4 weeks of the interview day. The interview day consists of:

a welcome presentation by the Admissions tutor and Director of Studies

an introduction to the JMC course from one of the JMC tutors

a tour of the College and Department facilities

demonstrations of undergraduate projects

a one-to-one academic interview with one of our lecturers

Interview days for 2017/18 are as follows:

Wednesday, 8 November 2017

Wednesday, 22 November 2017

Wednesday, 29 November 2017

Wednesday, 6 December 2017

Wednesday, 24 January 2018

Wednesday, 7 February 2018

Wednesday, 14 February 2018

Wednesday, 28 February 2018

Entry Requirements

Please note that we consider all aspects of each application, including academic record, predicted grades/marks, and evidence of motivation for Computing. Competition for the limited number of places on our courses is intense and regrettably, we have to turn down many excellent candidates. Even if your application is very strong, you may unfortunately not receive an offer.

Our offers are individually tailored, and aim at helping our future students to be fully prepared for the challenges ahead, should they join our courses. Our advertised grades are "minimum", and our offers may be more demanding and include further qualifications: please see Qualification Advice for Computing (next tab). We may also consider any applicant marginally below our standard offer (e.g. with a prediction of A in A-level Maths rather than A*).

Imperial has an English language requirement which equates to a Grade 6 in English Language GCSE or an IELTS score of 6.5. Note that, even if students have studied English as part of their qualification, this may not satisfy the College requirement and an IELTS test or equivalent may still be required.

Standard UK Qualifications

A-levels

Our typical A-level offer is A*A*A or A*A*AA including A*s in Maths and Further Maths. Typical offers also require STEP II/III.

For further recommendations on A-levels, see the tab on Qualification Advice for Computing.

We also accept the Edexcel International A levels.

International Baccalaureate

Our typical IB offer is 41–43 points overall with a 7 in Maths at higher level and a 7 in one further relevant subject at higher level. Typical offers also require STEP II/III.

Cambridge Pre-U Diploma and Pre-U Subjects

Our standard minimum Pre-U Diploma offer is 80 points out of 96 with Distinction grades in Maths (principal subject) and one other relevant principal subject. For those not taking the full Diploma, we will look for Distinctions in three principal subjects, including D2 in Mathematics and Further Mathematics. Typical offers also require STEP II/III.

Scottish Advanced Highers

Foundation Courses

We only accept students from the two high-quality UK foundation courses described below. These are specialised courses for overseas students whose home qualifications are not usually accepted for study at UK universities.

Warwick HEFP

Insufficient UK Qualifications

We do not accept the Welsh Baccalaureate and BTEC.

Standard International Qualifications

We accept qualifications from all over the world. Below is the list of qualifications we typically accept, with standard minimum offers, followed by the list of qualifications we do not accept. If you have a query about a particular qualification not included in these lists, please contact the Admissions Tutor, providing details on the qualification (subjects, grades etc.).

Country

Qualification Requirements

European Baccalaureate. 87.5% overall, including 9.0 in Maths and 9.0 in one other relevant subject

Australia

Capital Territory Year 12 Certificate, New South Wales High School Certificate (HSC), Northern Territory Certificate of Education (NTCE), South Australian Certificate of Education (SACE), Tasmanian Certificate of Education (TCE), Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE), Western Australia Certificate of Education. Australia Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR) of 98.5%. Queensland Certificate of Education (QCE). Overall Position (OP) of 2 or less.

Diploma za Zavarsheno Sredno Obrazovanie. Average grade of 5.9, including a grade 6 in Maths and in one additional relevant subject.

Canada

Alberta High School Diploma, British Columbia Senior Secondary Graduation Diploma, Manitoba High School Graduation Diploma, New Brunswick High School Graduation Diploma, Newfoundland High School Graduation Diploma, North West Territories General High School Diploma, Nova Scotia High School Completion Certificate, Nunavut High School Graduation Diploma, Ontario Secondary School Diploma, Prince Edward Island High School Graduation Dip loma, Quebec Diplôme d'Etudes Collègiales (DEC), Saskatchewan Completion Grade 12 Standing, Yukon Territory Senior Secondary Graduation Diploma. 85%, including Maths and one other relevant subject.

Caribbean

Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE). Six units, with at least two double-unit courses with Grade 1 (AAA) in both units. Grade 1 in Math s.

Baccalauréat. 15 or higher overall, including 16 in Maths and 15 in one other relevant subject. International French Baccalaureate (OIB). 14 or higher overall, including 15 in Maths and one other relevant subject.

Germany

Germany Abitur. 1.2 or less overall, with a 14 or 15 in Maths and 14 in one other relevant subject.

Greece

Apolytirion. 19 overall, with a 19.5 in Maths and one other relevant subject.

Hong Kong

Diploma of Secondary Education (HKDSE). 5* in Maths, 5* in Calc-Stats or Calc-Algebra and 5 in one or two other relevant subjects.

Hungary

Matura/Erettsegi. 5 overall, including a 5 in Maths (HL) and two more relevant subjects (HL).

Iceland

Studentspróf from a Gymnasium, with an overall score of 8 or better, and scores of 8 in relevant subjects, including Maths.

India

ISC-CISCE/CBSE-AISSE, with 90 average over the five class XII subjects with at least 95% in Maths and at least 90% in two additional core relevant subjects. Ranked in JEE Common Merit List.

*If you are not able to take A-level Further Maths to A2, you should take the STEP III Maths qualification instead of the Further Maths A-level. Some candidates choose to take Further Maths independently through a local Further Maths Network Centre.

**We do not accept ICT, Business Studies, General Studies and Critical Thinking.

We should emphasise that, with the exception of the required A-level Maths, A-level Further Maths and the A-levels we do not accept, Category 2 is only a set of suggestions. If your A-level selection does not match this exact pattern, you should not worry unduly.

We do understand that some schools do not offer Computing for students wishing to study the subject for A-level. We will not hold this against an applicant as we do not require Computing as an A-level subject for any applicant so if you would prefer to take another subject, then this is fine.

For students looking for a good grounding in the principles of Computing pre A-level, we do recommend the new OCR GCSE in Computing. Again, however, this is not a requirement for admission to any of our degrees.

Relevant Subjects Selection

Many applicants ask us what relevant subjects we would recommend, for example at higher level for the IB. Below are our suggestions:

Physics

Computer Science

Chemistry

Economics

Biology

Computing Experience?

Each year, over half of our incoming students have no prior programming experience.

If you are in this category and are thinking of applying to our courses but are worried that a lack of computing experience will leave you at a disadvantage, don't be: we teach 5 programming languages from scratch in the first and second year, so this is not a problem. You do not need to have taken A-level Computer Science for our degrees.

We look for people who are good at Maths and are excited by computing and its many applications and are or have the potential to be great problem-solvers, lateral-thinkers or systematic thinkers. We welcome people with a wide variety of A-level subjects for our courses.

STEP Qualifications

All applicants are encouraged, if possible, and may be asked, to take a STEP exam in Maths. These can often be sat at your local examination centre. Please note that regardless of whether an applicant is planning to take a STEP exam in maths or not, one or more may form part of a conditional offer that we make to an applicant.

STEP

The STEP Maths exam consists of 3 papers. Papers I and II are based on the A-level Maths syllabus. Paper III is based on the A-level Further Maths syllabus. Extra tuition is advisable; the style of question is markedly different to that of A-level. Where requested, we will ask for a Grade 1 or Grade 2 in STEP III. We may also ask for a Grade 1 or Grade 2 in the STEP I or STEP II paper.